Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #5) By: Laurell K. Hamilton (Book Review)

 (((This review will contain spoilers)))

Summary:

Anita Blake, vampire hunter and animator, takes a bite out of crime-of the supernatural kind. But even someone who deals with death on a daily basis can be unnerved by its power...

When Branson, Missouri, is hit with a death wave-four unsolved murders-it doesn't take an expert to realize that all is not well. But luckily for the locals, Anita is an expert-in just the kinds of preternatural goings-on that have everyone spooked. And she's got an "in" with just the kind of creature who can make sense of the slayings: a sexy master vampire known as Jean Claude.

We're back on track baby!!! The previous book had me nervous and worried thinking that this series was going to tank with the random romance trying to make a love triangle appear out of thin air. But luckily this book has redeemed the mistakes of The Lunatic Cafe. Since the first book I had no issues with the series. It was engaging, interesting and completely had me hooked into the story. I'm the type of person that likes consistency so when Hamilton dropped Jean-Claude into the mix and having Anita say she has feelings for him when there has been no development other than her being put in danger because of him time and time again, it made me a little angry. Make it make sense. Because clearly it doesn't. But for Bloody Bones we're right back on track to how the first three books were. 

I love that Hamilton always has more than one bad guy in the mix. It keeps things interesting and quite frankly keeps me really engaged because I like to try to piece things together before the author brings us to the conclusion. I like the mystery of it all and with different bad guys being responsible for different murder scenes it definitely makes it for an interesting read. 

We were introduced to more supernatural creatures; some more messed up than others, and the gore was kicked up another notch. We were introduced to fairies finally or more so descendants of fairies; Magnus and Dorrie are the last remaining living fairies from her family line who can contain Rawhead and bloody bones from escaping his prison. Rawhead is a children's bogeyman where he will kidnap and kill all the naughty children. Because Magnus has been feeding on him to gain power and immortality Rawhead has been able to leave his prison and he is the one responsible for killing and dismembering several kids found in the woods. Not only were Magnus and Rawhead in cahoots with Seraphina; the vampire master of the city but in my opinion a few of the vampires that she is in charge of are bit scarier than Rawhead and Bloody Bones. Xavier who kidnapped Jeff and turned Ellie into a vampire is known for liking young boys and brutally rapping them. Unfortunately, for Jeff and Ellie they both didn't make it out alive in this situation. Throw in vampires who can rot and put themselves back together and you've got a motley crew of fucked up individuals. 

I know in previous reviews I said that I love a heroin who can take of herself and doesn't need a man to save her but it would be nice if Jean-Claude could help Anita out every once in a while. He literally does nothing! When it comes down to big fights and confrontations it's Anita having to figure out how to save everybody. I just wish that Jean-Claude can help out once in saving Anita's life. Seraphina wanted to have Anita all to herself and turn her into a vampire. And she almost succeeded in doing that. Anita traded herself to save Jean-Claude, Jason and Larry. They were outnumbered and out-powered only Anita trading herself could stop them from getting killed. 

Anita is very powerful as it is but we soon discover that her power is a lot more complex than just raising zombies. When she had to fight off Magnus to escape the vampires during the day she was able to control a vampire just like with a zombie. Imagine just how powerful she can be if she can control some of the oldest and most powerful vampires? She escaped all by herself as per usual. A few hours after escaping she comes back with the cops and feds and the place gets torched. I was scared for Anita. Seraphina seemed so powerful without an explanation as to how she got as powerful as she did. But by whatever grace she has, she survived yet again.

Rating:

Of course I'm giving it 5 stars on 5! It was amazing! We really got to learn more about vampires, fairies and Anita's powers. I'm happy that romance crap was kept to a minimum and we got more badass fight scenes. I'm excited to see what other supernatural creatures Anita will come across and I wonder just how powerful she will become.